There have been a number of devices and methods used to store hats individually and in groups. Common practice involves using a variety of hooks for hat and cap storage. Davis (U.S. Pat. No. 4,993,557) stores a number of caps in a stacked arrangement. Similarly Lema (U.S. Pat. No. 5,348,166) stacks nested caps. Both devices have limited utility since the advertising and logos of the stored caps are not visible. Furthermore, both of these do not permit storage and retrieval of individual caps without disturbing previously stored caps. These prior art devices "nest" the hats such that previously stored hats must be either moved or removed to add a hat, or lifted or raised to remove all but the most recent addition to the stored hats. A further problem with these devices is that the advertising, logos and lettering on the front face of the cap is not displayed.
Another cap storage device on the market consists of a plurality of horizontal rods over which an "alligator" type clip is slidably placed, the clip being used to grasp some portion of the cap or hat. Although this prior art provides for minimizing the disturbance of prior stored caps during the addition or removal of a cap, the caps are not readily or automatically presented in an orderly or attractive arrangement. An additional problem with this device is that when this cap storage apparatus is moved, the clips from which the caps are suspended, are free to slide along the horizontal rods thus disturbing any prior symmetry or order in the cap storage arrangement.